The Shapeshifter
by zenni
Summary: With the Dark Lord's grip on his sanity slowly slipping away, Hermione and Severus have to deal with the consequences.


Voldemort was one of those wizards who would go down in history, although it was undecided how he would be betrayed. Would he be depicted as a villain or a powerful leader? Possibly both, depending on which side got the chance to write the history books. He looked up to Hitler, even though the founder of Nazi Germany was a muggle; who else would get away with mass genocide on such a scale, and make the reasons for it socially acceptable. Voldemort admired the war-time leader, and even used some of his tactics. Voldemort decided that it would be lovely to place all muggle-borns and blood traitors in a large ghetto, and he had plans to make Hogwarts and the surrounding village of Hogsmeade into such a place. Once he had defeated Dumbledore, Voldemort planned to destroy the castle and erect a magic dampened zone around the area, so that no magic could be performed. This way, he could control the population inside with no fear of escapees.

Most of the Wizarding World lived in fear of the Dark Lord and his Death Eaters, and this pleased him immensely. Voldemort's leadership skills remained unchallenged by those in his service, as none would be brave enough to stage a coup. His wrath was legendary, and his war tactics bloodthirsty. Voldemort was not a wizard easily crossed. Voldemort was paranoid however, and did not trust his followers with the knowledge of his ultimate plans. Instead he fed them lies and allowed them to serve him in ignorance. Most of the Death Eaters followed the power hungry wizard for glory, and the chance of committing the most atrocious acts, without questioning his motives for muggle torture and the like.

However, Voldemort was facing a potential disaster; although the war was going well for He-Who-Must-Not-Be-Named and his army of Death-Eaters, the morale in the ranks was low. Lucius, one of Voldemort's most trusted servants had reported that there were those in the Death Eater camp that were tired of muggle-baiting and they wanted to do something more entertaining. After all, once you have tortured a few hundred muggles, the excitement tends to wear off.

Voldemort was not a stupid man- he knew that he had to keep his subjects on his side, either by fear or respect, in order for them to carry out his bidding. It was for this reason that he needed to appeal to their darker natures. After some long discussions with Lucius, Bellatrix, Mulciber and Pettigrew, the Dark Lord had formed a plan. It was a plan that would get the ranks excited, although in a dark way. Money could be raised, and torture dealt out without Voldemort having to do the dirty work himself, making him look magnanimous and powerful. Fighting skills would be honed, and the weaker Death Eaters weeded out; in short the plan was perfect.

Once the finalisations were in place, Voldemort called a meeting and summoned all his followers. He had no time to waste, as he wanted the plan to be put into motion straight away.

At Hogwarts meanwhile, the new school year was fast approaching. Professor Severus Snape was in the dungeons brewing potions needed to replenish the Hospital Wing stock. As there were no pupils to treat at this time, Madame Granger was assisting the dour Potions Master.

Hermione had started her job as the school's mediwitch four years before, and had settled into her role with finesse. She made regular appearances in the staff room, when she wasn't needed in the Hospital Wing, and was on friendly terms with the rest of the staff. Severus however barely tolerated her presence, although she viewed this as a great achievement in itself.

The pair usually worked together in silence, so it was a surprise to Hermione when Severus cursed loudly, dropping the spoon he was holding and violently clutched his arm.

"Bollocks!" he exclaimed.

"What is it?" questioned Hermione worriedly, hoping that her assumption was wrong. As she said this, Severus was walking out of the door and towards his private quarters. He returned with a hooded cloak and mask in hand, and turned to face Hermione.

"Please go and tell Dumbledore I'm being summoned," he barked, before leaving hurriedly toward the apparition point beyond the school grounds.

Hermione watched the dark figure walk out of the room, and turned towards the fireplace. "Dumbledore's Office" she said, throwing a pinch of floo powder into the fire and stepping through.

"What can I do for you Hermione dear this evening?" asked Dumbledore, offering a sweet to the young mediwitch, "Can I interest you in a sherbet lemon?"

"Oh, no thank you Sir. I came to inform you that Severus has been summoned. He just left."

"Oh dear," said the Headmaster, suddenly looking older than Hermione had seen him. "Tom has been summoning young Severus fairly frequently of late."

"He is planning something, and I don't like to think what." Hermione knew that these visits were not purely social, as evidenced by the various injuries that the Potions Master always came back with. "Has Severus got any useful information that might keep potential punishment at bay?" Hermione asked, afraid of what the answer would be.

"Not really- school is out of session and things are quiet on the Order front. I wish I could say otherwise." The headmaster turned to look out of the window, turning from the young mediwitch so to avert his gaze.

"I know," she said, although the implications of such were all too clear. "Let's hope it's not too bad this time. At least we don't have the children to worry about." Hermione fervently wished this to be true, however she knew that 'not too bad' was like saying that Voldemort was only 'slightly evil'; a gross understatement.

"True I guess. I won't be happy until he is returned safely however." With this Hermione knew the conversation was over.

Hermione walked back to the dungeons, intent on finishing brewing medicinical potions for the Hospital Wing. She knew that there was the distinct possibility of Severus returning to the school in a terrible state, as he had done on so many pervious occasions. After she had bottled up the final potion she transported all the vials to the Hospital Wing, where she dutifully put them in their respective places. She then entered her private rooms, which were located next door to the ward, in order to await the Professor's return.


End file.
